Rotatable sorting table for beet harvesters



y 3, 1958 v. F. BOZEMAN ETAL 2,842,265

ROTATABLE SORTING TABLE FOR BEET HARVESTERS 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed July16, 1954 ATTORNEYS FIG.2

July 8, 1958 v. F. BOZEMAN ET AL 2,842,265

RQTATABLE SORTING TABLE FOR BEET HARVESTERS Filed July l6. 1954 4Sheets-Sheet 3 INVENTORS vmeu. F. BOZEMAN KNUD B. SORENSEN CHARLES s.MORRISON BRIAN KENT July 8, 1958 v, BOZEMAN ETAL 2,842,265

ROTATABLE SORTING TABLE FOR BEET HARVESTERS Filed July 16, 19544Sheets-Sheet 4 INVENTORS. VIRGIL. F. BOZEMAN KNUD B. SORENSEN,

CHARLES S. MORIiISON, BRIAN E. KENT TORNEYS United States PatentROTATABLE SQR'HNG TABLE FOR BEET HARVESTERS Virgil F. Bozernan, Moline,Knu'd B. Sorensen, Rock Island, and Charles S. Morrison and Brian E.Kent, Moline, 111., assignors to Deere & Company, Moline, Ill., acorporation of Illinois Application July 16, 1954, Serial No. 443,886

12 Claims. (Cl. 209-124 The present invention relates generally to beetharvesters and similar agricultural'equipment and has for its object andgeneral nature the provision of a new and improved beet-handlingarrangement whereby clods and other debris may be manually removed fromthe harvested beets and delivered onto the ground while the beets, thusseparated out, are delivered into a beet container, preferably of themobile type and connected'with the beet-digging or -pulling unit,generally tractor-mount- A further important .feature of this inventionis '--the provision of a new and improved beet-sorting apparatus whereinbeets, separated from debris andthe like, may

be delivered more or less uniformly i'nto a beet cont-ainer, and anadditional featureofthis invention isthe provision of means whereby themanual separation of .clods and the like, when necessary, may readily beperformed. Still further, a feature of thisinvent-io'n'i's the provisionof means to prevent beets from moving into the clod-discharge zone when,asunder favorable soil conditions, clod separation is not required.

Still further, an additional feature of this invention is the provisionof new and improved means fo'r suppor-tingand-actuating a rotary sortingtable, -with-means forkeeping the table clean, means for 'adjusting'thedisposition of beets and the like over the table-and means fordividing the beet flow into two streams, one going to one portion of thebeet-receiving container and the other portion going to another part of'said container.

Another feature of this invention is the provision of an auxiliary clodchute that is attachable to the side of thebeet hopper opposite the'sorters stations, the auxiliary clod chute being used under conditionswhere the clods and soil corning'over onto the table with the beets arein excessive amounts such that the'sorters cannot manually take care ofall of the clods and soil. For use in such situations, we contemplateth'e'removal of the beet divider and the addition of the auxiliary'clodchute, whereby the operators or sortersmanu'allyremove the beets fromthe mass of clods 'and'soil and deposit them into the beet hopper, onesorter depositing the beet .a consideration of the detailed descriptionof one preferred embodiment, taken in conjunction with the accompanyingdrawings illustrating such embodiment.

In the drawings:

Fig; :1 is a fragmentary perspective view 'showing one" 2,842,265Patented July 8, 1958 2 portion of a beet harvester in which theprinciples of the present invention have been incorporated.

Fig. 2 is a plan view of the construction shown in Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is an exploded view of the rotary sorting table and a portion ofthesupporting and drive means associated therewith.

Fig. 4 is a sectional view, taken generally along the line 4-4 of Fig.2.

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary view, taken generally along the line 55 of Fig.2, showing the beet-flow-adjusting means.

Fig. 6 is a view similar to Fig. 1, illustrating the use of therotatable table of the present invention with-an auxiliary clod chutewhereby the beets may manually be removed from the clods, soil and thelike and deposited into the beet-bin or hopper, the clods, soil and thelike being scraped off the table automatically and deposited into anauxiliary clod chute attached to the harvester for this purpose.

Referring first to Fig. 1, the beet harvester of the present inventionis shown as incorporating a mobile container 10, preferably in the formof a wheel-sup ported cart having suitable supporting wheels or the likeand an open top receptacle generally in the form of a rectangularbox-like structure 11 having side walls 12 and 13 and front and rear endwalls 14 and 15 the end walls 12 and 13 sloping laterally inwardly anddownwardly and the front and rear walls 14 and 15 are disposed generallyvertically, at least in their upper portions. Thus, the cart or beetreceptacle is propelled by the diggingunit of the harvester in agenerally transverse position. The bottomof the container or receptacleis formed by or includes a chainconveyor, the'right-h'and portion ofwhich is extended upwardly, as at 17, Fig. 1, to form a discharge orcart-unloading elevator. Generally speaking, the construction justdescribed is conventional, so far as the present invention is concerned,and the harvesting outfit also includes beet-digging or -pulling means(not shown) and other associated means by which beets are removed fromthe ground and delivered through a harvester elevator indicated in itsentirety by the reference numeral 18, beets from the elevator 18 beingdropped onto a rotary sorting table, indicated in its entirety by thereference numeral 20, that is carried by and, in turn, delivers thesorted beets into the receptacle 11. I

The present invention is primarily concerned with the rotary sortingtable structure and associated means. For the purpose of rotatablysupporting the sorting table, which 'per se is indicated by thereference numeral 21, the tank or container 11 provides means supportinga cross-brace structure that is made up of a pair of channel bars 24and-25 and acrossbar 26 disposed generally'transversely of the firstmentioned Crossbars 24 and 25. The rotatable table 21 includes agenerally circular member having a generally central opening 27 andan-outer periphera'l'section 28 slightly greater in dimension than "thewidthof'the tank or receptacle 11, as best shown in Fig. 2. Preferably,the upper portion of the rotatable table 21 is made-of flat plate stockand, as best shown in Fig. -4, also includes a reenforcing channel-likestructure 29 disposed radially outwardly of the central opening 27.Generally radially arranged plates 31 form a seriesof vertical ribs thatsupport the outer portion'of the rotatable table. The "rotatable tablestructure 20 also includes segmental track means 33, and the latterincludes a plurality of track segments 34 (Fig. 3) each having atitsends attaching lugs 35 that are connected by any suitable meansand-through cooperating plate sections -36-to the associated table "ribs31. ln'additio'n to (Fig. 2) is trained about the circularly alignedsprocket segments 39 and is driven by a drive unit 43 that per se isgenerally of conventional construction, the sprockets and shafts thereofbeing enclosed in housings 45 and 46 (Fig. 1).

The table 21 is supported for rotation generally about a vertical axiscoincidental with the axis of the opening 27 by virtue of the support ofthe track structure 34 in a plurality of supporting flanged rollers 48.Each of these rollers is carried for rotation on a stub shaft 49 (Fig.4) that extends upwardly and radially inwardly, each stub shaft beingwelded or otherwise secured to an attaching angle member 51 (Figs. 2 and4). The particnlar inclination of the roller shafts acts to support thetable 21 for generally free rotation and with no likelihood of the tableactually becoming displaced. As will best be seen from Fig. 4, the thetrack segments 34 are disposed radially inwardly of the attaching lugs35, and the rollers 48 are angled so that the flanges thereof extendpartially around the upper portion of the track segments 34, thispreventing upward displacement of the table as a whole. In Fig. 2, therollers 43 and the supporting shafts 49 are omitted for purposes ofclarity.

Also forming a part of the sorting table. structure is a beet-dividingunit 55, a beet-flow-adjusting unit 56, and table-cleaning or -scrapingunit 57, all indicated in Fig. 1, and also in Fig. 2.

The beet-dividing unit 55 includes a divider framework 61 rigidlysupported on the upper portion of the beet container 11 by verticalframe members 63, 64 and 65, the latter being rigidly connected to thecrossbar 26 and extending upwardly through the central opening 27 of thetable 21, generally at the forward portion of the com tainer unit 11.The inner side of the divider unit 55 is formed as a curved sheet 68extending generally helically, as shown in Fig. 2, and partiallyencircling the table opening 27. The advancing end of the curved sheet68 is fixed to a dividing point member 69 to which the front part of asecond deflecting sheet 71 is fixed, as best shown in Fig. 2. The partsare so constructed and arranged that the divider point 69 is supportedjust above the table surface and generally midway between the opening 27and the outer peripheral portion 28 of the table 21.

It will be seen from Fig. 1 that the harvester discharge elevator 18drops the lifted beets onto the table 21 generally at a pointsubstantially diametrically opposite the divider point 69. For thepurpose of providing for an even distribution of the beets dropped fromthe elevator 81, we provide a beet-flow-adjusting member 74 that formsthe principal portion of the flow-controlling means 56 mentioned above.The member 74 is a sheet-like part and is movably or flexibly connectedwith an upstanding angle 75 that forms a part of the superstructure ofthe tank or container 11. The other end of the flowadjusting part 74 isprovided with a generally U-shaped bracket 77, having upper and lowerslotted portions 78 in which a pin 79, carried by a slidable bracket 81,is disposed. The bracket 81, as best shown in Fig. 5, is slotted, as at82, and connected by a pair of bolts 83 or the like to one side sheet 84of the clod chute means 85. The opposite side of the clod chute isformed by means including a sheet or panel 87, and the rear part isformed by a similar sheet or panel 88. Under some conditions where clodsare not present, this chute 85 may be closed off, and means to this endwill be described later.

The scraper structure 57 for keeping the upper surface of the rotarytable 21 clean comprises a sheet or plate 91 fastened to an angle 92that is fixed, as by a bolt 93., to a receiving sheet 95 that is carriedprincipally by the right-hand wall 13 of the tank 11 and by the verticalmember 64. The inner end of the angle 92 is fastened in any suitable wayto the vertical angle 65 (Fig. 2). The sheet 91 may be adjustablevertically relative to the angle 92, if desired.

The operation of the harvester as so far described is substantially asfollows. Assuming that the outfit is in operation and passing down a rowor rows of beets to be harvested, the forward unit to which the beettank 10 is connected lifts the beets and, after one or more cleaningoperations, delivers them through the elevator 18 onto the sorting table21, the beets being discharged at a point on the table generallydiametrically opposite the dividing point 69. The receiving sheetcooperates with the discharge end of the elevator 18 to direct beetsonto the rotary table 21. The beet-flow-adjustment pro vided by theshiftable member 74 is arranged so that too many beets are not crowdedover against the radially outer portion of the rotary table and adjacentwall structure, and assuming that the harvester is operating undercloddy conditions, the beet stop mentioned above is disconnected fromthe chute 85 and one or more operators standing at the sorters stationsA and B manually move the clods, lumps of soil and other debris into theclod chute 85. As will be readily understood, if the cloddy conditionsare severe two operators may be required, but if cloddy conditions arenot severe one operator at one or the other of the stations A and B maybe able to remove all of the clods. The table 21 rotates in thedirection of the arrow and carries the beets re, maining on the table 21toward the divider point 69. The beets are fairly evenly distributedover the table and hence the divider point 69 and the curved dividerpanel 68 divert some of the beets toward the center of the table,dropping them down through the opening 27 into the generally centralportion of the tank or container 1 11. The other beets, which are lyinggenerally radially outwardly of the point 69, are diverted by the sheet71 and caused to drop over the left-hand edge of the table 21 betweenthe latter and the left side wall 12 of the container 11. 'In this way,the tank or container 11 is filled generally uniformly and the maximumcapacity of the receptacle 11 thus made use of.

Where cloddy conditions do not exist, and the beets coming from thedischarge elevator 18 may simply be delivered into the tank 11 withoutsorting or separation, the clod chute 85 is closed off by a beet stop101 in the form of a curved member carried at one end on a bracket 102that may be fastened by one of the bolts 83 to the chute wall 84. Theother end of the beet stop member 101 is connected in any suitable way,as by a lug 103 and bolt 104, to the chute side wall 87.

It will be remembered, of course, that the beet stop 101 is removedwhenever sorters are required at stations A and B or either of them.

Occasionally, beet harvesting conditions may be such that excessivequantities of clods, soil and other debris pass through the harvesterand drop onto the table 21 from the elevator 18. In that case, theprocedure outlined above may be reversed, that is, the beets may besorted out of the mass of clods, soil and the like and moved manuallyinto the container 11, either through the central opening 27 or over theleft-hand edge 28 of the table. .In that event, the beet divider unit 55is removed, leaving only the spreader plate 91. Also, the relativelylong curved sheet 68 (Fig. 2) is disconnected,

and instead a short curved sheet 68a ('Fig. 6) attached to the angle 64to which the radially inner end of the sheet 91 is fixed. The latterthen serves as means for moving all of the clods, soil and other debrisremaining .on the table as the latter continues to revolve after thebeets have been moved into the beet hopper or bin. For the purpose ofguiding the clods, soil and the like to t the ground, we provide anauxiliary clod chute 125, best shown in Fig. 6. The chute is in thenature of an attachment and comprises a bottom sheet 126 secured alongits laterally inner edge to an angle 127, and a side sheet 128 that atits forward edge is connected by a cross plate 129 to a portion of thecart frame. A detachable bolt 133 connects the upper end of the angle127 to the cart frame, and similar means may be used for connecting thelower portions of the angle 127 to the cart frame for fixing theauxiliary chute 125 in position whenever it is desired to operate underexcessive cloddy conditions.

While we have shown and described above the preferred structure in whichthe principles of the present invention have been incorporated, it is tobe understood that our invention is not to. be limited to the particularmeans shown and described above, but that, in fact, widely vdifferentmeans maybe employed in the practice of the broader aspects of ourinvention.

What we claim, therefore, and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. In a beet harvester, a mobile container for beets open at its topportion, a rotary sorting table mounted on the upper portion of saidbeetcontainer and disposed above the latter, the open portion of saidcontainer being larger in area than that of said sorting table so that aportion of said container extends laterally outwardly of said table,said sorting table having a generally central opening and there being aspace between the outer edge of the extended portion of the containerand the adjacent portion of said rotary table, whereby beets may bedropped downwardly into the container either to the central portion ofthe container through the opening in said rotary table, or into aperipheral portion of said container over the outer periphery of saidtable, and means for delivering harvested beets to said table betweensaid open central portion and the radially outer periphery thereof.

2. In a beet harvester, the combination of a beet container having anupper open portion generally rectangular in configuration, a pair ofcrossbars fixed to the upper portion of said container in spacedapartrelation, a rotary sorting table mounted for rotation on saidspaced apart bars and having a generally central opening providing forthe delivery of beets from said sorting table between said bars and intothe lower generally central portion of said container, said bars andsaid rotary table being located, relative to the container so that thereis a space between one end of said container and the adjacent outerperipheral portion of said table, thereby providing for discharge ofbeets over the peripheral portion of said table and into the zone atsaid one end of said container, and means for delivering beets to saidrotary table.

3. In a beet harvester, the combination of a container for harvestedbeets having an open upperportion, a.

rotary table having a generally central opening, means supporting saidtable for rotation in a generally horizontal plane generally above theopen upper portion of said container, the open upper portion of thelatter being greater in area than the area embraced by said table andsaid table and said container being so constructed, one relative to theother, that beets delivered into the container through said generallycentral table opening are deposited in the generally central portion ofsaid container, and beets delivered into the container over theperipheral edge of said table adjacent one end thereof are deliveredinto said container adjacent said one end, and means for rotating saidtable.

4. The invention set forth in claim 3, further characterized by adivider comprising a stationary structure including beet-deflectingmeans supported above said table in a position between said centralopening and the outer peripheral portion of said table adjacent said oneend of the container, said divider serving, during rotation of saidtable with beets thereon, to deflect some of the beets toward saidcentral opening and the other beets toward said one end of saidcontainer.

5. The invention set forth in claim 4, further characterized by saiddivider comprising a dividing point cated generally midway between saidcentral table open ing and the outer periphery of said table, and innerand outer dividing sheets fixed at one end to said dividing point, oneof said dividing sheets extending generally container, openat its upperportion to receive beets, a

rotary table mounted on the upper portion of said container andincluding a central opening and means sup porting said table forrotation on said container in a position thereon such that there isbeet-receiving space between one end of said container and the adjacentperipheral portion of said table, a divider carried by said container inrigid relation and disposed above said table generally midway betweensaid central opening and the edge of the table and having means servingto deflect some of the beets to said central opening and the other beetsto the edge of the table adjacent said beet-receiving space, a clodchute carried by said container at one side thereof adjacent radiallyouter portion of said rotary table, and a beet stop attachable to saidsheet at a position closely adjacent the peripheral portion of saidtable for preventing beets from entering the chute when conditions aresuch that clod sorting is not required.

8. In a beet harvester, the combination of a beet container, open at itsupper portion to receive beets, a rotary table mounted on the upperportion of said container and including a central opening and meanssupporting said table for rotation on said container in a positionthereon such that there is beet-receiving space between one end of saidcontainer and the adjacent peripheral portion of said table, a dividercarried by said container in rigid relation and disposed above saidtable generally midway between said central opening and the edge of thetable and having means serving to deflect some of the beets to saidcentral opening and the other beets to the of the table adjacent saidbeet-receiving space, means for delivering beets to said table at apoint generally opposite said divider, and a beet-flow-adjusting membercarried by said container and comprising a member overlying said tableand extending generally in the direction of rotation of said table, thedown-stream end of said member being adjustable generally radially ofsaid table for causing a relatively even distribution of beets on saidtable, said beet-flow-adjusting member being located generally betweenthe point of beet discharge onto said table and said divider.

9. In a beet harvester, a beet-receiving sorting table construction,comprising a supporting frame, a generally circular sorting table, aplurality of track segments fixed in circular alignment to a lower partof said table and having generally radially disposed roller-receivingportions, and a plurality of flanged rollers carried by said frame andeach mounted for rotation about an upwardly and laterally inwardlyextending axis, said track segments being supportingly received by saidrollers and said rollers having track-engaging flanges and said rollersbeing disposed for rotation in planes extending downwardly and inwardlyrelative to the axis of rotation of said table so that the upper flangesof the rollers at least partially engage around the upper portions ofsaid track segments, whereby the upper flanges on said rollers act toprevent upward displacement of the table from said rollers.

10. In a beet harvester, a receptacle for harvested beets including abeet hopper, a rotatable sorting table carried by said hopper andincluding a central opening through which beets may be delivered to thegenerally central portion of said hopper, there being sufficient spacebetween an outer edge of the rotatable sorting table and one end of saidhopper to provide for the passage of beets through said space towardsaid one end of the hopper, means carried by said hopper providing asorters station thereon, a clod chute carried by said hopper generallyat the side thereof opposite said sorters station, a scraper carried bysaid hopper above said sorting table and located at such an angle thatmaterial left on saidtable after the beets have been taken therefrom isdelivered into said clod chute, and a curved sheet connected to theradially inner end of said scraper and extending generally in thedirection of rotation of said table and lyinggenerally between thecentral opening of said sorting table and a point at which beets, clodsand other material are discharged onto said sorting table.

11. In a beet harvester, a mobile container forbeets open at its topportion, a rotary sorting table mounted on the upper portion of saidbeet container, said table having a central opening and said top portionof the container being larger in area than saidltable, whereby there isa space between one upper marginal portion of the container and theadjacent portion of said rotary table and beets moving ofi the tableboth through said central opening and over the outer margin of the tablefall into said container, means for delivering harvested beets to saidtable, and means carried at the upper side of said rotatable table fordeflecting beets thereon ofi the outer edge of, said table and into saidspace and also inwardly of the table into said central opening.

12. In a beet harvester, a receptacle for harvested beets including abeet hopper, a rotatable sorting table carried by said hopper andincluding a central opening through which beets may be delivered to thegenerally central portion. of said hopper, means carried by said hopperproviding a sorters station thereon, a clod chute carried by said hoppergenerallyv at the side thereof opposite said sorters station, a scrapercarried by said hopper above said sorting table and located at such anangle that material left on said table after the beets have been takentherefrom is delivered intosaid clod chute, and a curved sheet connectedto the radially inner end of said scraper and extending generally in thedirection of rotation of said table and lying generally between thecentral opening of said sorting table and a point at which beets, clodsand other material are discharged onto said sorting table.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS1,288,375 Bickley Dec. 17, 1918 1,473,365 Vogel Nov, 6, 1923 2,529,023Helms Nov. 7, 1950 FOREIGN PATENTS 551,601 France Jan. 11, 1923 592,230Great Britain Sept. 11, 1947 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE CERTIFICATE OFCORRECTION Patent No. 2,842,265 July 8, 1958 Virgil F. Bozeman et air Itis hereby certified that error appears in the-printed specification ofthe above numbered patent re quiring correction and that the saidLetters Patent should read as corrected below.

Column 6, line 2'7 after "adjacent" insert .ethe e; line 44, before "of"insert edge Signed and sealed this 23rd day of September 1958,

SEAL ittestz ROBERT C. WATSON Attesting Officer Commissioner of Patents

